Achieve "optimal" with Adam Courchaine - EMP417

Speaker A: Welcome to the Entrepreneur Motivation Podcast. I'm your host, Chris Bello. Today I've got my friend Adam Corchain on the show. Adam, welcome.

Speaker B: Hello, Chris. Thanks for having me.

Speaker A: Is it like, Dr. Korshayne or, like, technically or, like, how do. Is there a title or something?

Speaker B: No, no. So, uh, I actually have, like, many titles, so it's kind of funny. So I am a PA Physician assistant. So in a clinical setting, I'm always Adam, pa. Um, I actually do have a doctorate in clinical medicine. Um, so I just finished that about a month and a half ago. So in any other settings, in an education setting or conferences, I could go by doctor. But, you know, I've spent almost 50 years in this earth as Adam, so

Speaker A: that works well, Adam, it's great to have you on the show. And for those who kind of follow my journey on social media and saw the little airsoft combat day, Adam was one of the, uh, the folks on Green team hunting us and, you know, throwing smoke grenades and doing really fun things. But, um, um, if you'd like to do a quick background on who is Adam? I know you've got a lot going on on your side, but if. If you have a cool elevator pitch that you like to introduce yourself as, go for it.

Speaker B: Sure. So I'm not a very salesy kind of guy. So, um, I've been involved in health and wellness, it turns out, just about 30 years. So I was an exercise physiologist for, I guess, about eight years. Then I went back to school, became a pa, worked in a bunch of different settings. So I worked in internal medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, hit the extremes, um, joined the military. Um, that's where the combat day came in. So, yes, I am a major in the U.S. army, and then worked at urgent care. Realized it stunk. So I started my own practice five years ago as a direct primary care. And then now we're pushing the envelope even further to do more and more with health and wellness. That's where we are.

Speaker A: Yeah. And then we connected recently through a mutual friend, and I remember we did, like, the quick intro call, and you explained what you guys do in your clinic. More of the membership model, how you're just. The. The costs are so affordable for getting blood panels and all those different types of tests done as opposed to going through some other facility, and you're not sure if they take your insurance. And then it's way more expensive than it needs to be. And there's a lot of confusion around health and wellness in general. So I really appreciated your approach of, hey, let's see, what, what's your diet looking like? How active are you not just trying to prescribe a pill for everything, Right?

Speaker B: A pill for every ill. That's the way we phrase it. Um, yes, we have lots of pills. Um, but yeah, if I just jump right into things and just go a little bit into that, um, my frustration, because by the way, I'm a human and I am a patient and different things like that myself, and so is my family. And I will tell you if, if anyone treats their family different than they treat you, that's a problem.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And you should, you should run. And the system is huge. So the healthcare system, and I just did a presentation on this and I can tell you, uh, 20, $19 in 1970, we spent, on average, I think it was about $1,850 per person per year. And now it's close to $12,000. So you say, oh, okay, is net inflation, uh, accounted for? So what do we get for that? And then that same year, there was a Commonwealth report that compared us to, I think, 11 sister nations. So, like Australia, UK, like, nice places. Um, and by far the US worst health outcomes, shortest lifespan, highest suicide rates, horrible across the board. And that's the stuff that keeps me up at night. That's just silly. We have the best equipment, we have the best procedures, we have the best minds, we have the worst of all the outcomes. What the hell is the problem? And I can keep going if you want, but I did the deep dive. I came back from a deployment in 2017 and I was like, God, I don't like heat so much. And it was 135 degrees there, and working in urgent care here in the fall was way worse. And I was like, I can't do this. It broke me. They really did. Um, and that's when I started looking for my own thing. So I was never taught this in school. I've networked a lot in the past five years and it turns out. So, you know, you're a realtor, right? You do, you do things. You're involved with insurance sometimes. And homeowners insurance uses that for a new doormat in the front step. Like, that's silly. Or if you, you know what, new shades in the kitchen, like, you buy them or don't buy them. It's freedom, right? But they're not covered. That's silly. Or if you have car insurance and need tires, you go pay for them. Health insurance magically covers everything. What could go wrong? And then since the 1980s, it's premiums. Every year it goes up like 25%. That is not sustainable deductibles. CO pays, all this stuff. Um, I'm rambling now. You get me going. But if that system, you know, who's processing all those payments and billing and all that stuff, that's an administration. And they, uh. I just did this last week. That's why it's all in my head. But, yeah, I thought.

Speaker A: I was excited to have you on here to, like, extract all that value off the top of your mind.

Speaker B: Well, in our healthcare system, I think it's about 34 is admin. So every dollar you spend, just take a third, throw it in the trash. So when you go see the, uh, the family med doc, or whoever it is you're going to see, usually they're really good people. They, they went. They get all that advanced training because they're passionate about it, and now they're told, you know, we're only going to keep about a quarter of that. So how do we make more money? Sure. In that hamster wheel. Keep it going, baby. Um, and the only way you can practice in that setting is to say, chris, what are you here for? You're like, well, uh, I'm kind of sad today. Oh, there's an antidepressant. Great. Next. You go to the next room. What are you here for? I have a headache. Well, here's a couple, except we're next. Nobody stops and says, why do you have that headache? Why do you have depression? Why do you have chronic fatigue or diabetes? Nope, we just treat it. And when they treat it, you know, think about your family members or your friends. Who gets better? Nobody. It's expected to just slow it down a bit. So when mom has her diabetes, she's going to have it forever and she will die from it. And hopefully we slow it down a little bit. That's the system. And for my family, that's certainly not good enough. There's no way in heck I'm going to tolerate that. So can we get rid of. Not all. Can we get rid of a lot of diabetes? Yes. You know, anything chronic with lifestyle modification can be altered. And again, it might be too late. And that sounds horrible, but, like, yeah, I mean, if you spend 30 years destroying your body, can't always fix it, but you can improve it every time.

Speaker A: Right, Right. And one thing I always talk about on, on my podcast is just awareness is key. I had another friend who does lifestyle fat loss recently, and he just talks about. He's Very big on, you know, drinking spring water, don't drink tap water, um, eat grass fed meats from um, farmer's market. Stop going and getting like the lucky charms, you know, the processed food with all the different ingredients that you can't read. And I mean it's crazy to see how many kids are just going around and taking Doritos. Like if you look at their lunches, it's like bags of Doritos and Frito Lay potato chips and those little cosmic brownies with the sprinkles on it. I think of all the things that I ate as a kid and we just didn't know any better. Right. Like it's not really taught. And they actually sell that kind of stuff in the lunch cafeteria in many of these, these schools definitely.

Speaker B: And some other fresh stats are for adults over 19, um, 30 are overweight and 43, almost 43% are obese. So that means is obesity and overweight normal for the Homo sapien animal? No, but it's average now. So what about kids? And my 18 year old was in the room and I was like doing this little thing, getting ready for my presentation thing. And don't quote me on the exact number for kids, but it was something like 9 or 10% or overweight and I think it was 12 or 14% or obese. The number in the end was like, whatever, it's like 34%. That is not normal. And I'm a little older than you, but go back to the 1980s, 1950s, I wasn't here. But not that long ago, it was unheard of. There was no childhood obesity. Essentially the stats was like 1%. And now we're, we're tolerating and accepting that. 33, 34, like, yeah, okay, it happens. Um, and then when I, when I studied medicine, almost 20, yeah, about 20 years ago, um, there was no type 2 diabetes in children. Now there is.

Speaker A: Yep.

Speaker B: So it's insane. And at that point, you know, people talk about evolution. No, I don't believe in that. Well, whatever, um, for a human or part of a human species. But our brand of species is a Homo sapien. So we've been on this earth for about 300,000 years. And you know, with changing tides and pressures and temperatures, we evolve a little bit. We're really good at evolving. Like we're still here. We're not the strongest animal out there. We're not even the fastest. Like we're pretty smart, I guess. But the lifestyle we live now is only about 100 years old. We have not evolved for it. And that's why we are slowly or moderately speeded, killing ourselves, killing each other, but we have drugs to overcome that kind of. And that's the model. That's, that's, that's current day medicine. We're going to slow down your ill. Wow.

Speaker A: Yeah, it's more like a, uh, band aid. Right? You're just kind of masking the problems. And I mean, I've heard of even people taking like the, the ZQUIL type stuff to just make themselves feel like they're sleeping. They're kind of passed out throughout the night. But, uh, are you really getting deep sleep? REM sleep again? It goes back to that awareness. Like maybe you just don't know. You're having a hard time sleeping, you're stressed out. Hey, this thing knocks me out for 10 hours. I'm just going to take that.

Speaker B: And I will tell you every time in my new life, when I'm not seeing 30 patients a day in the office today, I think I saw four people. And that's the way it should be. Um, it's nice. I gave them all time. I'm talking to you. I can research things. Yeah. Every time I research some things, we humans prove to me four packs of cigarettes is bad a day. Like, who are you kidding? Whatever. Anyway, so we need a, we need a study for everything. Um, but lo and behold, it's probably three years ago I saw this thing. So zquil, you know, a lot of times that's Benadryl, that's diphenhydramine. And I just have to laugh. I think it was a Saturday. Being a nerd that I am. I'm reading this little article and it's like, yeah, National Institutes of Health or something like that. And it talks about, hey, it turns out that long term use of that. So if you get stung by a B, Chris, use it. If you have a bad night, you could take it. Actually, that's fine. Anything in moderation. But it was chronic use. And I have patients been on for 10 years and they said more than I think it was two years cumulative use, uh, associated with higher risks of Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's disease. And I was like, that's not nothing.

Speaker A: Right. It's kind of a big deal.

Speaker B: Well, and I've worked in nursing homes and some people might be 90 years old. And I've seen people in their 50s in a nursing home. Like, how does that happen? Is that normal for this animal species? So we're not talking about like, yeah, it's going to make you like one IQ Point lower. No. You might lose your mind. That's crazy. And the question that I play with, Chris, is to say, why can't you sleep? Like, the why? We don't ask that. That's a functional medicine approach.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And. And what I come back to this is what I was chuckling about. The. That. That study is. In the end, it's always like. And be a human. Like, oh, okay. Wow, that's weird. Um, and eat food that humans eat that you can pick or kill. Oh, fascinating. So don't eat plastic. Apparently not. And, like, for physical activity. So sitting on your butt on the couch like a jellyfish for 12 hours a day is not good for you. Huh? Huh? Prove it. Like, it goes back to It's. It really is, in a way, kind of simple, because it's all about being a freaking human. We evolved this species, you, for 300,000 years, and then in the last hundred, so a blink of an eye, we said, nah, I don't do that anymore. I don't walk anymore. Um, I don't eat food. I eat food products. Uh, and guess what? I can't sleep, so I need to take my Zequa. Like you said.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Man, that's the pandemic. It's crazy. And again, all I'm pumped up today, so.

Speaker A: Oh, this is, like, right up my alley. I follow all these pages that talk about the same thing.

Speaker B: Yep. So you have to tamp me down. But, um, in this presentation I did last week, so 1900, cause of death was across the board, infectious disease. Like, yes, it was mid-1800s that, um, few people, but famously, um, was Louis Pasteur with the, uh, germ theory. Fascinating. Awesome stuff. We still didn't know what to do about it. So it took almost 100 years. So, you know, antibiotics started coming out maybe in the 1920s, and not even until the 1940s. Middle of World War II is when penicillin became a little bit more widespread. Fascinating. That's good stuff. That is really good. Because if I get an infection on my toe and I die because of it, that's ridiculous. So we. That. That's a great advancement in modern medicine. The problem is we took that and said, no need to be a human anymore. Still. So 2019, causes of death, COPD, stroke, heart attack, diabetes. And my wife said, well, I guess it's kind of good that it's 2019, not 2020 with COVID And I was like, huh, who is the most susceptible to Covid? Oh, copd, stroke, cancer, diabetes. The same bloody things. So think about how Silly. And I'm saying this very gently, how silly of a species we were to set ourselves up for that. Um, that's terrifying. So why does Covid scare us so much? And again, I don't know everything about COVID because nobody does. It's still novel. We don't know a lot about it. Um, I'm not saying it's not real at all. My dad died of COVID within the first month. Um, so it's real. But you know who doesn't do that badly with COVID Healthy people. Again, I don't want people calling me. I have some patients with chronic, um, Covid symptoms, and it's terrible long haul stuff. There's stuff we don't understand. But as for averages, healthy people seem to do pretty well. So what did I not see on the news reports and all that stuff like, hey, check your vitamin D, make sure it's optimal. Not good enough. Optimal. Or maybe go for a walk instead of sitting in your basement scared, with a mask on and a plastic bag over your head. So nobody talked about health and wellness. They're still not talking about health and wellness. And it's insane to me. So again, it's just example. I'm not a Covid, whatever, blah, blah, blah person. It's real. But maybe we should look at the humans as a whole.

Speaker A: Right, Right. And that was one thing too, because I'll listen to a different podcast and just. I'm listening to one again where he's very vocal and has his thoughts about that whole thing and the politics behind it. But it's interesting hearing what was happening in 2020. 2021, obviously. Here we are, 2023. So some time has passed, but you start to look around and you're like, well, all my healthy friends that are working out and they're going and running marathons and stuff, they all seem to be fine based on what I can see. And of course, we never have heard that. Like, no one's ever said, hey, exercise, get some sunlight, vitamin D. Right. You know, start to do some walking. At the very least outside in an empty field. Like that's safe.

Speaker B: Yes. Yep. And eat food.

Speaker A: Um, and eat real food. Yeah. No fruit roll ups or any of those things.

Speaker B: Well, and. And one thing I'll throw out there just in case anyone takes this part of the conversation a little more. The heart is like, I'm thinking of a guy, uh, one of my patients, and he was probably about 46 at the time, and he got slammed, he got really sick, and he was a healthy guy. Like, literally was, um, yeah, I know I'm from town and all that sort of stuff. The thing that we have to ask when something hits is, is this presentation average or is it an outlier? The reason why is if it's average. So if Ebola hits Denver. I don't know if I should say this out loud, but, like, you can wet your pants because it's going to be bad, you know, I mean, like. Like, everyone's susceptible. That's a bad one.

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker B: But flu, um, is there a healthy stud marathon runner guy who got the flu and got really sick or died? Yes, but is that average or is it an outlier? And from what I can understand, especially with COVID stuff, is it seems to be these outliers.

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker B: And we should think about, like, maybe there's a vitamin imbalance, or maybe there's something that we don't understand yet. So then again, do I need to hide in the basement with my family with our plastic bags over our heads, or do we go live like humans? Go for a hike, go do things, eat food, you know, have a. Have a nice healthy steak or something like that, Some broccoli, those things, and have interactions and social contacts and touch and all these other things.

Speaker A: Right, right. And I like what you said earlier about just being a human, because, like, that really has changed so much. If we think about the kids being born with the iPad in their hands, pretty much playing or watching YouTube, you know, like cocoa or whatever, Coco Melon, those little shows that they watch on Netflix, that was never the case. Um, I've even seen. You know, obviously things change so fast and the technology's progressed. But I saw one of those memes that was. That said, you know, kids these days will never understand this feeling. And it was like three kids talking to each other on a bike in the neighborhood. You know, before technology, before we had cell phones and everybody had an iPhone or whatever, you had to go outside, you got sunlight, you fell, you scraped your knee. Right. Your bike. And, um. And now you can just call Uber. You can get burritos delivered to you in 10 minutes with the Chipotle app.

Speaker B: Yeah, well, and it's funny. I'll go back and then forward again, but, like.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Ah, you're in the middle of, what, 75 hard, right? Didn't you tell me you were doing that? Yeah, so what? I know there's a couple of nuances, but whatever. What is that? I'll tell you. It's being a human. So did your ancestors ever have to pick up something heavy and move it. Yeah. Okay. Did they have to do CrossFit? Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? I have to think. I'm probably a mutt. So I don't know who my ancestors were really, but I guarantee you they walked or they died, period. They worked together as a. Yes. So. And they had to work together as a tribe. So then they had to move. They had to have a tribe. Um, sense of purpose. No job's more important than the other in a tribe. They're all important. And then they had to have sleep, stress relief, and then nutrition. So, um, those five pillars. So what are you working on? Nutrition, physical activity, probably sleep, stress relief is in there. Sense of purpose. Like. Oh, oh, okay. Yeah. So people. Yeah, but it didn't work for me. It's not perfect yet. Whatever. It's a program. Um, but yeah, I can get behind that. Right. Um. What, what works? Ah, God. Now I'm getting into some specific things, but like some people say yes, but my friend told me that they ate food out of this box that came from a lab and they lost weight. Like, all right, good for them. And they may have, um.

Speaker A: But how long, um, is it sustainable?

Speaker B: Ah, yep, yep, yep, yep.

Speaker A: So that's the thing. And it's all about the lifestyle change. I know that's one thing that Andy Frisella talks about with 75 hard. It's like long enough where it's not a seven day little one hit wonder where you lose 10 pounds and then you put it all back on because to create a habit. I've seen different numbers about this, like 60 days or 65 days or whatever. With enough time and repetition, it becomes ingrained. You don't, you don't have to think about it as much. I grab the gallon every single morning. Right. I'm just like ready. It's ready to go. I finish my day and I put the new gallon on the desk for the next morning so that I don't even have to think about it anymore because I've done it for enough days where it's become part of this lifestyle and routine, which I think therein lies. The problem is that we're not being taught these routines. We're being taught to eat those cosmic brownies and like chicken tenders at lunch and Frito Lay chips and to sit all day in front of the TV watching TV or playing video games.

Speaker B: Yep. Um, you'll not be shocked, but you'll laugh. It was probably a month or two ago I saw this other stat. Again, don't quote me the exact number But I think it was something like 54 point something percent of Americans, um, eat at least one fast food meal a day. I was like, oh, it was something like 33 or 34% have two.

Speaker A: I was like, I believe it, I believe it. We're just with, like, everything being busy and just, oh, it a lot over the last couple of years. I think people change their habits and routines too, because with a lot of restaurants being closed or doing outdoor dining or like, limited seating, the drive through seemed like a convenient option. So people were being retrained in a way. Or even with Amazon, we heard about the amount of people who joined Amazon that were like, previously shopping in person. Now this is the most convenient way. And so that becomes part of their new habit and routine. Oh, uh, let me just go through the, through the drive through and pick up some fried chicken instead of going to the grocery store and having to freaking cook my meals and do dishes. Right. I mean, it's kind of sold and packaged as convenience, but, uh, they don't tell you about what the expense is. Like, your health.

Speaker B: Yes, yes. And guaranteed you will get some people. Could I just talk to someone on the phone about depression before this? So I was saying the difference is this person I was talking to, he looks good. Like, he's energetic and stuff, but he's suffering. And I said, the difference is with anything chronic is some people look better doing it. So some people like, oh, no, I have my. Whatever, fried chicken, whatever else. Um, and no, I feel fine. Uh, and then, yeah, now. But as far as an animal goes, you know, if we had this new animal species, and I said, if you keep this thing alive for five years, you get $3 billion, like you're motivated. You're gonna, you're gonna figure out what it should eat. We don't do that for ourselves.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: So you will get, you know, the expectation if we said, again, average is not normal. So normal for a human is to go strong until, you know, you're dead. Um, if it's 95, well, I'm gonna go to 94, 364 days, and then I'll die. Um, I don't want to have to have 30 years of downtime. So that's what we've missed. So anyway, yeah, I'm just going off. So the food thing. So it's average. If you're 40, Chris, you should have high blood pressure. If you're 45, you should have some high cholesterol. And we have pills for those. And then if you're 50, how about some diabetes just as a little sprinkling on top, and that's average. And that's okay because we have pills that will not cure it, but it'll slow it down. You will have problems. So there are alternatives. 99% of the time, probably 95. 95. You can get rid of 95% of the time. You can get rid of all this stuff just by being a human.

Speaker A: Absolutely.

Speaker B: But what I've come up with is there's two camps. Ish. There's living in the wild, which we're designed for. But I don't know about you, but I'm not going to quit my family and go live in the middle of the woods somewhere. Um, and then there's living in the zoo with your mind shut off, and you just show up and the zookeeper tells you everything's okay. Take a few pills, stop complaining. You should be more grateful and just take a pill for it. But there's somewhere in the middle, and that's for me. And I think you're going through this too, is to say, I see the zoo. I don't think I can completely leave it because I'm not ready to do that. Like, God. Um, but how do I. How do I participate and know and not be a slave to the zoo?

Speaker A: Right? Yeah, that's a really good point. And funny. My wife and I were watching. There's like a, um, documentary on Amazon. I think it was on Amazon prime called Wildcat or wildcats or something. I don't know.

Speaker B: I've seen it. But I saw the preview.

Speaker A: Yes, I saw the preview that we kind of were just like. Let's just check it out. Because we like cats. We have two cats. But this is obviously like a big. A little cat that is becoming a big cat. But they live out there. I think it was in Peru, if I'm not mistaken, in the jungles. And we were just like, dang, they have to build their shelter. Like, he's just using the restroom behind the tree. Kind of like the combat day. Funny, funny side note, there was no power at the dome. I know you guys were out camping. You know, green team was. Was, uh, camping a little further out, but at the dome itself, I didn't really know what I was walking into. I thought that there would be power and the fridge was working and that maybe there would be a microwave for the meals that I brought. No power. 20 degrees. I feel like it must have been 30 degrees in there because I was freezing cold with thermals on. I slept with my ski jacket and I was still cold. Uh, but it's just funny because once you start to think about, like, going full nature of living in the wild off, you know, finding berries, hunting animals, that's a totally different thing. But it is human as opposed to, oh, let me just sit here and, like, ring my bell. And, like, Lucky Charms gets dropped to my. My bowl. And I'm happy because I'm just doing what society is telling me I should do. And I'm buying the cereals that I see advertised on TV and things like that. So two different extremes, for sure. I want to be somewhere in the middle.

Speaker B: Well, exactly. And if. What I tell people is, if, you know, if the zookeepers put out a big broth of Lucky Charms as you and Chris runs up to it and just gobbles it up, like, that's not freedom. That's what we do. We're like animals, pigs at a trough. Now, if, on the other hand, Chris is like, you know what? It's Tuesday. I want Lucky Charms. Eat them. That's what I tell people. You will not drop dead today, Chris. I guarantee you a billion dollars.

Speaker A: You can handle a bowl of Lucky Charms. Yeah.

Speaker B: If you want to eat it, but you might be a little bloated tomorrow. Or people complain. They feel really tired after. And you know what? If you want it, it's your birthday. Whatever it is, do it. That's freedom. That. That's some of the stuff. So do I have to be 100% on all the time? Uh, depends. Some people are really sensitive. I know some people that are 98, too. And that's unfortunate because you say you want to go out to eat. They're like, not really, because there's nothing I can eat at that restaurant.

Speaker A: That's a lot of.

Speaker B: I like, you know, occasionally going out with a friend or something. Um, but I jokingly, I present this to new people that I meet in the office. Here is. Is. I present myself jokingly as sexist. So I say, know, especially if there's a couple, I'd be like, oh, Chris, man, your wife, like, they're so. They're so whiny. They get bloated. They get pms. They get a headache, they get moody. We don't get any of that. We just drop dead sooner to make a point that a lot of men, we're like, oh, no, I can, you know, have my 15 beers and two. Two pounds of bread and all this other stuff, and I'm fine. I'm 50 pounds overweight, but I feel fine. I feel great.

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker B: And then Then they have, you know, heart attack at 50, because that's average and everything's okay. Like, so I'm not a sexist. I'm not a sexist. So some people are more sensitive than others. And you say that that's lousy. Um, this happened with my daughter. M. My 18 year old when she was 15. Did her lab. She wasn't feeling quite right. Her thyroid antibodies are really high. Um, her thyroid is still okay. And I know because I study this stuff that thyroid proteins are a lot like gluten proteins. So she goes hardcore. And I mean, not gluten free. Ish.

Speaker A: Like, no.

Speaker B: If it might be zero, you know, soy sauce and natural flavors. Heck no. Um, within three months, her antibodies were normal. And to me, that is a big deal.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: So now you tell a 15 year old I remember doing this, I'd be like, hey, you know what's really good about that, though, Emily, is your friends that look like real thin models and are eating chick fil a every day, doing all these other things in 30 years from now. She's like that, go look like that. But she's like, I don't care about 30 years from now. Which is. And that's why when I'm talking to someone who's going through this stuff like it sucks.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Everyone else. Because everywhere I see. Where do we see? I see on a phone, I see on tv. Everyone else looks great, and they're all eating their lucky charms and doing their stuff. They look so happy. They're riding a horse. Um, and that's the zoo. The zoo tells you that that stuff is good for you and it's fun and isn't it great? Don't you want to be free and eat your lucky charms and put some sugar on it?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: M. I'm just throwing all these things out there, but I have a patient who just sent me a message probably about a week ago. Freaking made my day. He goes, hey, since we reviewed my labs three months ago, um, I need to come in and recheck with all stuff, but I changed one variable. He goes, after talking to you, I didn't want to go too crazy, but I cut out breakfast cereal. He goes, my weight's down seven pounds. I was like, that's outstanding. Good on him. He woke up a little bit. I didn't make him do anything. I always tell people, I'm not your dad. I got two kids. That's plenty. Um, but for him, he changed the variable and he saw seven pounds of fat. So that. That's outstanding. And Then for me, what we do as a practice is we do deep dive stuff. So we check inflammation markers. So he's got some pending labs, but it's, it's not all. So. So obesity, fatness, overweight, whatever you want to call it. Mhm. That's one thing that I can see. You can see it, but you can't see depression, you can't see diabetes, you can't see cholesterol. Uh, so I tell people, like, if your problem is weight, like things to be you. It really does because everybody can see it. It's, it's out there for the world. But guess what? In my world, I don't care which one you have. If you have chronic dysfunction, you're, you're distracting from being your best.

Speaker A: Right? That's powerful, just knowing where you're at. And I mean, I always think of that quote, what gets measured gets managed. And I hear people talk about whatever you want to improve, like whether it's your net worth. Check your accounts, check your balance every day. Look at what money, the money coming in, the money going out, what are you spending money on, right? And you're going to start to do better with saving and investing and, you know, stashing away cash and not making frivolous expenses. Similarly, with, uh, what you're eating, like, how do you feel? What's your energy level like? Do you feel bloated and gassy after eating a certain meal? Or do you feel energized and, um, you don't have that 2pm crash as they talk about? I mean, there's whole energy drinks marketed around that 2pm Crash feeling. Well, why are you having that crash? It goes back to you. Not people aren't asking why, they're just trying to cure the symptoms with these random band aids that don't actually solve the root cause.

Speaker B: Well, and one thing I'll throw out there, and I kind of touched upon this, but is the fact that you can't see chronic illness. Um, and I get to see it because people talk to me here, so I can tell you that. And again, this is, this is part of this weird thing. And I'm gonna sound like I'm talking conspiracy stuff. I don't know who the zookeepers are. There are zookeepers.

Speaker A: And, uh, if we get suicided, it wasn't us. We're both very happy and healthy.

Speaker B: No. And I won't talk about any social media, books or anything like that. Um, yeah, Facebook, um, but there, there is the zookeeper. What the heck was I gonna say about it? I Just lost my train of thought.

Speaker A: Oh, I'm sorry, um, I threw you off.

Speaker B: No.

Speaker A: Talking about the zookeepers and um.

Speaker B: Oh my gosh, it was good stuff. It's gone.

Speaker A: Dang, It'll come.

Speaker B: It's gone forever.

Speaker A: Probably better that way. So the, the social media people don't talk.

Speaker B: Exactly.

Speaker A: But you were talking about. You're not trying to get into conspiracy theory type stuff. I don't know if that rings any bells, but.

Speaker B: God, Chris, um. Oh. Oh, I know what I was gonna say. So, yes, so when you and I. And again, I probably got 10 or 15 years on you, but when. I gotta be careful saying this, but when I was a kid and going to school in the 1980s. Yeah, this is touchy stuff, but I'll bring it up. Did anybody ever kill themselves? I'm sure. But as an 8 year old, I never heard one single story. So the fact that nowadays, and I've heard it put this way, that if anyone bullied me when I was a kid, and I'm sure there were some little things or whatever, but like I went home and if someone wanted to call me and harass me, they had to call with that long extension cord phone. And my sister better not be on the phone or the other sister or one of my three brothers. So like, I had a respite, I had an escape. I could be home and I could be riding my bike with the two friends, like you said and all that stuff, there was a break. And I heard this a few years ago and I thought it was like, it really made me wake up a little bit. And it was like nowadays if you're a kid and someone bullies you, the entire school knows within a nanosecond. And it's on Snapchat and it's on this and it's on that. So when you wake up at two in the morning and you have that pit in your stomach and you're afra. You look at that damn phone because you see the light go on and someone's like, Becky's a loser or whatever it is. Um, that. So that's one extreme one way. But then for us adults, we don't do that because we're sophisticated and better. Um, but instead what we see is all the pretty people. Nobody puts a pic. Occasionally someone does this. But like all these vacations, all these beautiful places, oh, look at this amazing food thing. Whatever. Um, and it hit me a couple of years ago because I had, ah, well, we'll say a friend of a friend, um, who like tried to Kill herself. And I was like, what? This is a professional. Someone I've known for years. And, like, it. Actually, uh, I was leaving an orthopedic appointment myself, actually had to sit there for a few minutes that really, I was like, what the hell's going on here? They look so nice. Like, they look so beautiful. They look so whatever. And it made me think that we're definitely living in a house of cards. And those people come to my office, and then they break down in tears and say, yeah, I'm unhappy. Why? Well, because I should be happier because I have everything. Yeah, what do you want? And that's when it goes back to being a human. So our ancestors did not have it all. Um, I'm actually almost done. The Comfort Crisis. That's another interesting book. Um, but talking about our ancestors, do you think the crisis from a hundred thousand years ago in Colorado today was a little chilly? Yeah, you don't look that cold to me right now. But just, uh, as a thing, you and I would not be sitting here across the waves talking. We'd be walking, looking for dinner. Because otherwise, we're going to go hungry tonight. So we're hungry, we're cold. We're too hot. Muscles are sore. I'm walking on a broken ankle. Glad we don't have to do those things. But that's why you're doing 75 hard. You don't carry toilet paper when you're going. You probably carry some weight or whatever you're doing.

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker B: That's what you. So it's. And I'm not making fun of you here, Like, I'm doing the same thing. A couple months ago, I had a surgery on my elbow. Wasn't doing anything upper body. And I was like. After a while, I was like, all right, excuses. What do I need to do? So I got a weighted ruck. So I walk the dogs every day for about three miles. So bring extra £45 with me. Um, it's just a little thing, but it's those little things. It's that, um, I don't think my posture has helped, but I'm sitting on a bouncy ball right now. You know, it's supposed to be better, but I still slouch and stuff. Like, I should be up and walking. Um, so anyway, uh, I guess the point there is, you know, I think you and I are both trying to practice what we preach, but it's hard because it's hard to know how much this and that, whatever. So for some people that, you know, when it comes to Physical activity, specifically. Like, we're a lazy culture as far as physical activity goes. Because, like you said, you don't have to go to the grocery store anymore.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: Come. Right. You go anywhere. Nope. Nope. You don't. Um, and, uh, yeah, some of my favorite little books and resources these days, so Comfort Crisis is pretty. Is a pretty good one, but Tribe by Sebastian Younger. That's a good one. You might like that one a lot.

Speaker A: Uh, to check that out, Tribe.

Speaker B: Yes. I have incorporated that to a lot of what we do here. Um, but that's the thing. Like, you're talking about, uh, hunters and all that stuff. Everyone always thinks, like, the hunter. Yeah, that's the big one. Yeah. And I say, yeah, but if Chris and I were in a tribe, maybe he's a good hunter. Maybe I make really good baskets. The thing is, if Chris. Well, but the thing is, if Chris wants to move bass, uh, food, he needs my baskets. And if I want to put something in them, I need his meat. And then Becky over here maybe makes beads so we could trade them for something. Like, we were all a tribe.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And the thing is, if you're out hunting and you broke your hand. Oh, I'm gonna crap my pants first. I'm. I'm afraid now that we're not gonna have meat. So what do you need me to do to help you?

Speaker A: I'm there for you, baskets. Yeah.

Speaker B: Well, but how do I help you get back to hunting? And it's vice versa. And he, uh, talks about this in that book, actually. He said, but now some of our cities, you can go to a week and not see a single face you recognize. So what does that do for your subconscious psyche that wants to feel comforted and know that everything's okay? So a lot of us are living like scared animals. And if you put that scared animal, what happens? It doesn't sleep very well. Oh, okay. Um, and actually, the animals still eat probably better food. We were like the raccoons at the dumpster. And then, uh. Oh, gosh. Yeah. It's just, uh, an animal, actually, in the wild, would try to get away from the threat, whereas we just sit there and medicate it. It's kind of weird.

Speaker A: Yeah. Very weird.

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker A: And it's just like the society that we grew up in. I mean, even the cereal thing you talked about before, I just grew up eating, you know, lucky. I loved Lucky Charms, the freaking marshmallows and stuff. And, like, uh, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, uh, Cocoa Crisps or whatever. You know, Nesquik had some cereal. Like, I Literally would see the commercial, you would get it. It's like the. The chalk, it turns into chocolate milk, and then you can drink it at the end. And even in college, I remember I had been trained for so many years to eat cereal for breakfast that I would just get, like, I would get something I thought was healthier, but it had, like, little chocolate chip things in it or something, right? Uh, definitely was not healthy.

Speaker B: Choco Crisps, I think.

Speaker A: No, this was like the Kellogg Special K with like, chocolate chunks, but it kind of had like the little Kellogg flake. Things that are wheat, supposedly. But for the longest time, I was just eating cereal because it's convenient. I like cereal and milk. It's easy to. To eat, to clean. You know, it's light. Supposedly. It feels that way versus now. Eating steak. Yes. Well, like eating steak and eggs, it takes more time. I gotta do dishes. So I have been making a ton of eggs all the time and steak as well. But it. There's a couple extra steps. It's not as easy as just milk and cereal and a spoon.

Speaker B: So, Chris, you want to hear a story about why that is why you evolve. So, um, our ancestors, like, either skip breakfast if you're out hunting, so intermittent fasting for some people, but that if I don't have access to good food, I can skip a meal. I will survive, I guarantee you. But two, you'd eat leftovers from the night before, or like you said, maybe some eggs, maybe some meat, whatever. Um, maybe some vegetables if we have access. Sure. Fine. Done. So why did that change hundreds of thousands of years? When did it change? 50s, 60s, 70s? So why and how. And it turns out a couple of stories behind that, but one is, um, there was so things in medicine, if you discover something today, it will not be mainstream. 20 years, that's how long it takes. So in the 50s, there were some studies that showed that high, uh, cholesterol, because, remember, cause of death, infectious disease, and it was, it was transitioning. So they said, oh, um, people are having conditions with high cholesterol, high cholesterol, diabetes, blindness, all this stuff. They said, oh, so what has a lot of cholesterol? Eggs and meat. Let's cut them out. What do we replace it with? Well, we need something as post World War II. So we need something that's shelf stable. Um, let's just take out all the healthiness in it, all the good nutrients. And you left over the stuff that'll sit there for months. This is great. This white bread is this. That's pasta. That's all the stuff. That's where it kind of really started. Um, and then all of a sudden, they said, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And in the obesity code, Jason Fung, doctor says, I thought it was pretty funny. At the audiobook. He's like, breakfast, the most important meal of the day for cereal companies. So that's what it. That's what it came out to. So then all of a sudden, when they look back at that study. Oh, they, um. Yep.

Speaker A: Sorry, Siri thought I was talking to. To her, and then I couldn't listen to you.

Speaker B: They're listening. They're coming.

Speaker A: Yeah. See, the cereal companies are listening to us. They don't like it. But I. I, uh. The last thing I heard before that whole thing just happened. But you said cereal, the most important meal of the day.

Speaker B: Of the day. For the insurance company. For the cereal company. Yes, absolutely. This whole thing, when they look back in the studies, it actually didn't show, uh. Show that. And I will tell you, they've done so many studies. 100. The amount of cholesterol you put in here does not equal the. The amount in your blood. Wow. Um, they're. They're different. You make all the cholesterol in your body. In your body, there's a teeny bit that you absorb. But there are people that eat zero cholesterol, and they have really high numbers, and people eat a ton of cholesterol and have really low numbers. So, like, again, we need a study to prove what should a human eat? This is unreal, Chris. It really is. So, um.

Speaker A: That's nice. Yeah. Well, that's the power. I remember I interviewed. It's been on my like to do list. Like, I should do this forever. I think I told you that, too. I was just like. I've been wanting to do blood panels and, like, you know, just. It's one of those things you're not used to. Again, just in terms of routine, um, you just go for an annual physical. You kind of get checked out. Maybe you take some blood. They check those main things like your cholesterols. Here's that number. Your heart rate's good. Cool. You're healthy. See you next year, Right? That's it.

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker A: People aren't really used to this because it's not really like, um, hey, you should go every three months or twice a year and get your blood markers checked, see where you're at, test things out, change a variable, remove gluten, see how you feel and how you react. So people are just kind of going through life, chronically fatigued and have inflammation and illness and they have no idea why or what. What's off with their blood panels?

Speaker B: Well, it's because they're deficient in medications. They need more meds. Um, it's a joke almost. Yes. Why do people have high blood pressure? Because they're blood pressure medicine deficient. Like that's the stupidest thing ever. I mean, it's a joke when we say it that way, but um, the average face to face with the primary care is about eight to 10 minutes. And half of that is them talking. So that means you have about four minutes to get your story out. So if you have strep throat, that you could do, if you have a heart attack, 911, that's pretty easy. I, uh, need your appendix removed. Hospital acute care we're really good at. But anything chronic, you're the unconscious or the outward statement is no, you're fine in the joke, even in the medical community. And not like it's a joke, but what they tell you is, well, you know, Chris, now that you're 40 or 50 or 60, fill in the blank. You should feel kind of achy. It's expected. I feel achy. So it's fine if you need to take some anti inflammatories. Um, it's expected. Which is ridiculous. Yeah. So, yes. So like for instance, the blood panels like you just referred to, like when you go to a primary care, they use your insurance. Again, inappropriate. You should be using insurance for catastrophic things. But whatever. Um, they're going to say, well, what, you know, if you're 35, what is the recommended preventative task force? Nothing. Oh, so you don't need any labs? No. You're healthy.

Speaker A: Um, there could be underlying issues that you have no idea about.

Speaker B: Well, we just said toddlers have prediabetes and type 1 diabetes. Do you think a 35 year old is not on the edge? And I have a lot of people. Actually, this might surprise you, but I have a lot of patients that are athletes and pre diabetic.

Speaker A: Really?

Speaker B: And yes. Yeah, Shocking. I just had another one this morning. Um, and first thing we say is what the hell? Because I was told that cut out sugar, cut out candy. I don't eat sugar and candy. So how can I have pre diabetes? Um, and it turns out that all that stuff you and I just referenced to like the 1970s and stuff processed, ultra processed, added sugar, gluten and dairy for a lot of things. So all that bread, pasta, rice, that'll do it. Um, or um, and one guy, he really was pretty dialed in. And again, it's not about effort. He thought he was doing everything right. But then it turns out it was some of his sports drinks and things like that. This guy's an endurance athlete. Um, yeah. Like our ancestors did, they like pick up their goo shots and all that stuff before they went on a run to get to the next village or they just sucked it up. And there was something years ago, I forget who it was. Sorry, I can't give credit. But he was talking about his ancestry was Greek or something like that. So he. He really thought about this because he was a runner and he'd have all those performance things and car bloating. And he thought about, like, the ancient Athens, the Athenian Athenians, like, what did they do when they had to run and warn the next village? They started running barefoot. And what did they drink? Whatever they found along the way. And maybe had a couple olives off this tree. So that's what he did. He did. It was like 20, 15 years ago. But yeah, he did that. He trained. He literally just. He went barefoot and the countryside. And he actually did it. And he said it was amazing. Like, I actually had plenty of energy. I didn't need all that other stuff.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: So it's weird because, you know, Michael Jordan and you need to Gatorade and all this other stuff from 80s and 90s. Yeah. No, not really.

Speaker A: Yeah, that's, uh, crazy. I mean, there's so many different things and just advertising advertisements and promotions. And I remember I was watching the Michael Jordan thing on Netflix, right? The documentary. And it's cool seeing the. Hey, you want to be like, Mike, you got to drink this. And it's clearly promoting products. Big sugary Gatorade or whatever. Like, you see the amount of sugar in those drinks. And I guess it's probably. I don't know if it's getting easier to identify now, but there's more information out there. So if you want to find something, you can like, watch infinite amounts of content on the macronutrients of a certain thing. But back then you're kind of just like, okay, the TV is telling me this. That must be good. There's no Internet to really check against, so I'm just going to go and buy that stuff and start consuming it, and you become hooked. And I mean, it's a whole cycle and process. I just remember even as a kid, I would go, I loved eating at the cafeteria. I loved their little brownie. I would, like, get the brownie every day. Like the same thing. And um, you're just like man. Well, you know, oh, you're a kid, you have a fast metabolism, you'll be fine. You'll go burn it off. But that creates those habits that then, you know, the trajectory of our life is based on the habits that we form as a 3, 4, 5, year old. Going to school, eating crap, not working out, not moving. Fast forward to 50 or 60 and here you are. Right.

Speaker B: Well, exactly. And it's funny you talked about the cafeteria because Another thing from Dr. Fung with some of his books he talks about is, um, you know, even in the 1950s, that's, that's, that's like yesterday, the 1950s, um, you had breakfast at home probably around 8:00am you went off to school, you probably had a leftover piece of chicken or sweet potato for lunch, and then you had dinner at like five. That's it. Kitchen's closed. Grandma said don't spoil your appetite. And now, uh, kid has to have breakfast at seven. So we've moved the clock earlier. Seven. Who can go more than three hours without a meal? So then we need a snack. So have some graham crackers and, or maybe cookies. Then you have garbage in the cafeteria. You've seen that. It's, it's. Huh. And then afternoon, you need another snack. You get home from school, maybe some Doritos, and then you have dinner at 7:30 when mom and dad get home. Now. So now the whole intermittent fasting thing. So maybe we did not eat 24 hours a day or even 12. Uh, sorry. If the kid sleeps, maybe let's say eight hours, that means 16 hours non stop grazing like a cow. Um, and all of a sudden, what if we really did just shorten that window? I'm not saying restrict your kids from eating. That's a different conversation. But just why did. How do we come to this? And this is what I call new humans. And we have new problems.

Speaker A: Yes, new humans, new problems.

Speaker B: Well, and back to what you referenced about checking lab panels and all that sort of stuff. Like, yes, when you go to the boring medical care, they're going to say, Chris doesn't need anything. Or maybe we'll check a basic cholesterol, a basic thyroid metabolic panel, liver and kidneys, and then a blood count. This is important. But that is, that's this much. Um, what we like to check. You should know your vitamin D. And, and there's reference ranges. And we, we formulate those by saying who's not dead? Good enough. That's a reference range. Not for me. Then there's an optimal range, so you should know. Are you in the optimal range? So there's D, B12, folate, inflammation markers as ferritin, homocysteine, CRP.

Speaker A: I don't even know what you're talking about at all. As a random, normal, you know, not normal person. Not that you're not normal, but, like, as a civilian who has no medical knowledge at all and just thinks that a multivitamin is fine, that just goes right over my head. So we tend to bury our head in the sand because I'm like, I don't get it. I'm just going to ignore it. And wherein lies. The problem is we go through these issues because we just have no idea. Right.

Speaker B: Well. And. And for so many things, inflammation. So. All right, another clue. Ready? All chronic disease. So it's acute care. I break my leg in three spots. We're good at that. But chronic things, anything chronic, we're horrible at. All chronic things are due to inflammation. And what I mean by that. And I heard this when I first heard that, it was before I was ready to hear it. I was at a conference, and this doc was up there talking about how depression is due to inflammation. I was like, oh, she sounds crazy. She's psychiatrist. I guess she knows what she's talking about. Like. And I'm saying that in a nice way, a respectful way. Yeah. Um, yeah. Now I know for you, that might manifest as, you know, you're moody. For me, I might get overweight, obese. Next person might get skin eczema, all this stuff. Or chronic allergies. All these things, Chris. Um, if we can see that they're not normal, then you say, but why do I have them? And that's very hard. That journey, my personal. My family, like, we've been working on this stuff for five years. We're still working on it. Um, some have gut issues, some have some other things. Um, are they more sensitive than other families? Probably. We just replaced all the floors and they got rid of the carpet upstairs. Now we have the laminate, whatever. It's been very expensive. Um, it's been frustrating. And I've worked with patients who are so frustrated with how they feel sometimes. I had a woman once, say, reviewed her labs. They're actually all quite nice. And she goes, God, almost wish she just told me I had cancer and she was serious. And that's that level of frustration.

Speaker A: It would make her feel better that she didn't feel good.

Speaker B: Give me a freaking name. Give me something. Um, yeah, she's. Yep. Because she does not like living in the zoo. Her body doesn't like it. So anyway, so. So labs can be good at that stuff. And also, how are you doing? And one thing I find, Chris, is if you're only in the zoo and you stay in your stall and you're in your cage or enclosure, um, and that's all, you know, you kind of blend in. But if you go out, do combat day or something like that, and there's people out there that are huffing and puffing and barely can move or whatever it is, you're like. I felt kind of alive, actually, that day, you know, that was some good stuff. And I was tired, got up early, went to bed late.

Speaker A: It was exhausted. We ran for hours up and down hill.

Speaker B: Got pinged with some airsoft pellets. Um, where we were sleeping in that little, um, gully area. We put it at about 5 to 10 degrees. Like, freezing.

Speaker A: Yeah, I was freezing in that. Inside of that dome building. You guys were outside in a little tent.

Speaker B: Yeah. I didn't realize one guy had a stove tent, the other guy had a heated blanket. I, um. Bordering on stupid. I, uh. Yeah, I was worried about an amputation that first night. But then we got the right things, but I felt alive. Yeah. No regrets at all. It was wonderful.

Speaker A: I felt alive, too, but my feet were a little numb. The next morning. I was like, oh, no. Hope I don't have to chop off any toes.

Speaker B: No. Yes. Um, I'll bring sutures for next time. But that stuff. So what I'm getting at is when people don't do that, they just. The first time I ever had this thought, and I don't know if we should wrap it up or whatever, but the first time I had this thought, I was 30. I'm almost 50 now. I was at primary care in Massachusetts. I was working, and this guy came in. His knees hurt, blood pressure, smokes, doing all this stuff. He's overweight, obese, ordering diabetes, and when he leaves, he's kind of like, limping down the hall. And I was like, God, that guy's so old. And I realized he was the same age as me. He was 30. And I was like, we accept it. We look at that and we say, that's average. So, no, damn it, Chris. It's not. Okay. That's not normal. I'm not judging. I don't judge people. But I say anybody. I call it. Yeah, right. So the. I call it the do over. Like, you wake up, maybe you yelled at someone yesterday, you lost your head, which is. Can Be another inflammatory thing. But you have two arms, two legs today and it's a do over day. Just suck it up and do it over. Like that's the awesome thing. So, um, a patient of mine who's a friend of mine actually just recently, same age as me right before Christmas, just had a heart attack. Uh, and he's, he's okay. Ish. But I was like, well, that sucks and you get a do over. Um, what are you going to change? What are you going to do with it? What are you going to do with it? Yep, yep, yep, yep. So anyway, I guess my, my parting things would be for anyone who might be listening or watching or whatever is to say, are you optimal? Do you have any clue what optimal could be? And when you see people that are out there, I always use Tom Brady because I'm from Massachusetts. But um, like they talk about how he spends millions on all of his, you know, biohacking stuff. Like sometimes you don't have to spend millions. Sometimes you have to stop going to fast food. You have to eat real food. What should I eat? That is a difficult question. What should I not eat? Is easy. But the really. And a lot of people have remembered this, but if you could pick it or kill it, it's probably good for you. Yep. So, and you specifically, maybe tomatoes are no good. You know, that's the fine tuning part of things. But whatever. Most people, if you just start with that and moving like a human and then we work on sleep. If you need a sleep study, go get that. I use a sleep machine. I'm not your stereotypical um, sleep apnea guy, but. Oh well, um, it's really sexy too. And then some form of stress release relief which can be the physical activity and then where's your, where's your part in the tribe? What's your sense of purpose? Why are you even here? Because it's not that. And that's, I think that's probably the hardest one. If you don't have that, it kind of makes it difficult to be all the other things. 100.

Speaker A: I mean that's really powerful. And just figuring that out, that's definitely uh, a journey on top of like, hey, survival mode. Hey, I'm trying to figure out how to make money to pay my bills and everything's getting more expensive and eggs are like $10. Right. So how the heck am I going to find my purpose and a tribe and, and worry about all those things when it's just easier for me to grab a bowl of cereal before I go to Work, right?

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker A: So I can see how it gets a little difficult where people are like, yeah, that's nice, but I don't have time or I'm too busy or I can't afford that. You know, they're kind of stuck in the rat race of just survival. Survival. The hamster wheel. So, I mean, awareness again. I always go back to that. If you're aware, hey, maybe the next time someone who's listening to this, they might be about to roll through that drive through, and they're like, you know what? I'm going to go to. To a grocery store instead and just m. Make my food and find some berries and steak and stuff like that instead of just get the easy, convenient option. So that would be a huge change right there.

Speaker B: And I could tell you one final little story is, uh, I have some police officers, firefighters, and one of them, uh, when I first met him about a year and a half ago, he said, after a long shift, I mean, like, hard work, I'm like, you idiots run into the firefight, we run away. Um, but, um, a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety, a lot of panic. But he said, yeah, at the end of a shift, it's 12, 12:30 at night. He goes, there are times I'm walking away from a counter, I don't know which counter it is, and I have a bag of something, and I don't even know what's in there. I just ordered it. I don't even remember doing it.

Speaker A: It's just like a habit. Yeah.

Speaker B: So now he's kicking butt. He's awesome. His markers are all better because that's what we check. And now after a shift, he goes home. He does about 10, 10, 15 minutes of jump rope.

Speaker A: Nice.

Speaker B: And like, I mean, yeah, he dropped 30 pounds. His anxiety's better. Still working on things, but, like, it's not magic. It's right. And in him, he's talking about his ancestry, and he's like, yeah, I think I'm Viking. I was like, all right, you didn't win every. You didn't win every battle. Um, but we also didn't hide, you know, our feelings about the dead and all stuff. We had a party and we screamed and named the constellation. That's the tribe part.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: So that. So, yeah. Get a little passionate, but that's the kind of stuff that we do.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: It doesn't have to be that hard.

Speaker A: It doesn't. It doesn't. And that was cool about the combat date thing, too. I didn't have all the numbers saved, but it must have been your text in there, where you're like, hey, it was nice to kind of sweat with people and, like, um, reference that book, the Comfort Crisis, as well. A lot of times we get too comfortable, so it's nice to get out of our comfort zone and do something hard, do something challenging, and have that sense of community. Like, I was talking to a bunch of the guys at midnight on the Friday night, and it was just so cool to hear, oh, you guys are having that. Or, like, we were talking about dancing. One guy hadn't danced with his wife in, like, three years. And, you know, another guy was a. He has an online course for, like, dancing and stuff like that.

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker A: We kind of broke bread and had community over these random things that, like, I wouldn't just go talk to some random person at the park about dancing. Right. So community is very important. But, um, I know you said you've got a client coming up here soon in about 15 minutes, so I want to be respectful of your time, but I really enjoy this conversation. Adam, um, where can people go to learn more about you? Uh, your clinic, work with you. If they're here locally in the Colorado area, what's the best place to send them?

Speaker B: Yeah. So numed n u m e-primary care.com.

Speaker A: cool.

Speaker B: And we do work with people locally, but we also do the Feed the Beast program, which is working on all the stuff and that we could do remotely because it's. It's. You can do it anywhere. You can order labs anywhere in the country. So, yeah, we did that. So we can expand our reach and try to help people that want to be optimal.

Speaker A: Feed the beast. Is that what it's called?

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Beast within each of us. Well, those beasts, the killer whale in the wild with its tall fin, the one in, uh, you know, hanging out at the aquarium, it's all limp.

Speaker A: Wow. I didn't know that.

Speaker B: Even though it has the. Even though it has the best food, it has the best everything. Not wild. So we want to be wild.

Speaker A: I love that. I've seen the one where it's a, uh. It's a lion in a cage, and then a lion that's, like, all ruffled up and, like, got bloody scars, but it's free. And it's like, only one of these lions is free. Right. The other one's well fed, but it's in a cage and just doesn't know discomfort or struggle. But it also doesn't know freedom because it's just.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: An illusion.

Speaker B: Well, the one in the cage needs antidepressants. It needs anti diarrhea food, you know, uh, pills and. Right one. One will die younger.

Speaker A: Absolutely.

Speaker B: Caged animal. That's what we are.

Speaker A: Yeah. I love it. I love it. Well, thank you once again for your time. I'll be sure to link that up in the show notes.

Speaker B: Perfect.

Speaker A: Everyone make sure to go check out everything Adam's up to. He knows a lot, he's very kind soul, and, uh, clearly he is practicing what he preaches, so thanks once again, Adam, awesome conversation. Thanks, Chris.